Differences: Childhood
by Leona 'Jay' Jasmin
Summary: Part 1 of the Differences Series. One was away with the fairies, the other a charmer. Both were beaten brutally throughout their childhoods, and one day fate brings them together. With their different personalities but similar childhoods, how will they react? Mainly FrUK but more pairings later on. Rated T for England and Romano's language and France being France. Human AU.
1. Chapter 1- Arthur

_Dear Diary,_

_Well, for a first, I know a boy writing a diary would seem slightly, well, _gay_ to some people, but I just have to let it out, without someone finding out. If someone found out, then I would be in a lot of trouble and my whole life would change. It's horrible but I can't let anyone know. _

I check the clock. 7:55PM. Just five more minutes until the usual routine would commence.

_The truth is, my mother beats me. She _lives _out of the bottle, and then while she's drunk, she lets it all out on me. She tells me things I don't want to hear, and I already know the truth. I was a mistake. Ever since she turned thirteen, she's been living off alcohol, and one time, when she was fourteen, she ended up sleeping with someone. Nine months later, I was born. If I didn't look just like my father, with messy blonde hair and green eyes, then she probably wouldn't even know who it was. _

7:57.

_Every day, as soon as it hits 7PM, the bottle opens, whether it is wine, beer, cider or anything she can find, and drinks over her limit within about two minutes. 8PM, she comes and beats me. I'm too scared to tell anyone. Since my father doesn't care about me, I would be classed as an orphan if I was taken off of her, and one person at my school who already gets bullied so bad that they self-harm. I've seen the cuts on their wrists. I still have my mother's brother, Uncle Alistair, who lives with my Aunt Madeline and their twin sons, Alfred and Matthew, who are my age, and went to an International School just outside of town. But one thing I didn't like about them was that Uncle Alistair and Alfred are over the top, and you can't get a word out edgeways with Aunt Madeline and Matthew._

7:59 and 30 seconds. Half a minute until she probably would come up.

_I don't want to move, but I want mother to stop beating me._

_Signed, Arthur Kirkland._

"Arthur!"

I could hear her slurring heavily and walking up the stairs. It had been like this the past six years, but it was getting worse and worse. Last week, I got a black eye, and it still stung, since it had come back yesterday. The door opened, and I could see her standing there. One side of her mouth was drooping from being drunk, and a beer bottle was in her right hand. The bottle smashed onto my head, sending shards of glass digging into my scalp. As I had learnt, the more I screamed and panicked, the longer she'd carry on, so I silently hissed, as I could feel the blood come out. She also had brought a wine bottle, which quickly followed as soon as the beer bottle was completely shattered. Any shards that fell out went straight back in, and the whole process continued for about an hour, punches, kicks, more bottles, the list never ended. As soon as she left, I flung myself onto my bed, sobbing silently.

* * *

_Alfred_

"Yo, Mattie, dude! Wanna come with me to see Arthur?"

I watched my twin brother as he finished reading a page in his book, silently as ever, before shutting it and putting it on the coffee table. Both of us had spent the morning in the living room, Mattie was reading a book about a foot big and I was watching TV.

"Sure. Let me just go and get a jacket." he said softly, having to repeat the same message twice after since I didn't hear him.

"You two don't want me driving you there, do you?" Dad asked.

"No Dad, were old enough to walk there."

"You're only twelve, Alfred F. Jones, stop acting like you're an adult." Dad smirked playfully.

"I can look after myself!" I pouted. "And if Mattie needs help, I'll be the hero and help him!"

"I won't need help." I jumped as I heard my brother from behind me. "Just because you're the oldest by seven minutes doesn't mean I'm the weakling."

"I never said that! I said _if._"

Matthew rolled his eyes before the two of us walked out the house. Arthur's house was on the other side of town, but the bus station was not far from us, so we could take a twenty minute bus ride there. As we usually did, Matthew walked on the left and I walked on the right, and we did this naturally. We walked in silence until we reached the station, just a simple plastic structure with a little roof over the top in case it was raining. Nothing special. The two of us were the only ones there apart from an old lady reading a newspaper, and a man around 40 smoking just outside. Luckily for us, the bus driver was just getting into his seat, driving round the roundabout that was there and pulling up. Under 16's went free aswell, so the driver just nodded and we sat down. "Hey, Alfred, have you noticed that we haven't seen Arthur as much as we used to when we were younger?" Matthew said.

"Yeah…"

Truth was, neither of us have seen Arthur for atleast eighteen months now. Since he changed to a Private School in a neighbouring town, we hadn't even spoken.

To get to the other side of town, we had to stop in town and catch a different bus to that area. There were about eight stops in town, but we stopped at the first one, next to a camera shop and opposite a clothing store that also started to sell food. The bus to the other area was right behind it (They need to get a more decent schedule), and we didn't even have to sit down. This bus was a lot quieter, since apart from the council houses just outside of town, the people were _rich_. The Kirkland house was in the middle of the two, not cheap, not expensive, around average. The closest bus stop was just outside of the estate, so the two of us got off there and walked. The roads were twisty, and I remembered them from when we went to the same Primary School, since we always went to the others houses nearly every day.

Their house was the last one on the main road, which had many little roads leaning off. It was three stories, and was the only one like that in the estate. Outside, there was no car in the driveway, meaning Aunt Alice wasn't home, but when we tried the door, it was unlocked. "Alfred, we shouldn't go in just because it's open…"

"Artie may be home." I said quickly.

"There isn't any noise though. Let's go-"

That was when we heard sudden sobbing coming from upstairs, and the two of us snapped out necks to which room it was. It was coming from Arthur's bedroom.

The two of us silently walked up them, though Matthew burrowed his eyebrows at me when I trod on a squeaky board. Arthur's room was near enough opposite the top of the stairs, so we stood outside of it. "You go in, I'll do anything that you need me to do." Matthew said.

"You sound like a spy, dude."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "You watch too much TV."

"Too much is not enough!" I said, before putting my hand on the door handle. "See you!"

Once I stepped into Arthur's room, there he was, on his bed, face down. That was when I saw what he had been crying at. His head was covered in blood. "Arthur?"

He jumped, before eventually going into a sitting position. "What are you doing here?"

"What the hell happened to you?!" I hissed, ignoring his question.

"It doesn't matter-" he said, shaking his head. That's when I realised why his head was bleeding. Glass was dug into it.

"Arthur?"

He blurted out everything suddenly, so quick I'm not sure if he even took a breath. "Woah, slow down Arthur!"

And that's when he said everything. Mattie had come in around half way through to hear what was going on.

"Don't tell anyone, please." he said softly.

"Arthur, dude. If something like that's going on you should tell our Dad."

"No!" he said, panting. "I'm not becoming an orphan!"

Mattie and I exchanged a look. "Arthur, you can't go on like this…" I said, nodding to Mattie, who had gone out to secretly call Dad. Arthur would blow a fuse, but better safe than sorry.

"I'm used to it; it's been going on since I stopped seeing you when we were 7."

"Why haven't you told anyone?!"

"Nobody's going to help."

"Arthur, we will." I said, just as Mattie walked in.

"Arthur, if you want, you can stay the night with us." Mattie said.

"I don't want to."

That was when we heard a car pull up. Arthur cringed, obviously thinking it was going to be his Mum, but it was actually our Dad. "Arthur, what's happened?"

"You told him, didn't you?" Arthur said, his eyes like hawks on Mattie.

"Arthur, you're going to need that sorting out. I know what your mother's like, you just need to let her have a little time on her own. Just stay with us for a few weeks."

Since it was an adult telling him what to do, he didn't seem as reluctant. "Fine, just for a couple of weeks, no longer."

Dad smiled. "Something's going on with your mother; we just need to keep you from her for a couple of weeks. We won't hurt you."

"Just let me get some stuff. Please." Arthur said softly.

"Sure, kid." Dad smiled, about to ruffle his hair, before realising the scars and glass stuck in it. "You two, let him have five minutes to himself."

The two of us nodded, before following him downstairs and into the car.

* * *

_Arthur_

Why did the Wankers do that?

I'm used to it, I…

I'm fed up of it.

Grabbing a rucksack from under my bed, I shoved in some clothes, my toothbrush and toothpaste, comb, and some other things that I wouldn't share with any of them. That's when I saw the diary on the table. Should I take it?

I dropped my rucksack on the floor and flicked through the pages. Some of them had huge chunks of writing, while some were just little scribbles. You couldn't define anything I drew as _art_, and I knew it. Most of it was just to let my emotions out without anyone knowing them. As I locked it slowly with the key, I dropped it into my bag.

I looked around my room. I _knew_ if Uncle Alistair was to get involved, then my mother would probably end up in jail. He was an ex-police officer, having to retire from it after a dog attacked his leg, and nearly had to have it amputated, but now worked on the desks there. He also sometimes worked as a CSO (Community Support Officer). And I know, like Alfred, he can get himself stuck into something and make sure something would happen.

I knew something. I knew everything now would change. I knew it would happen whether I liked it or not.

* * *

_Just for notice, since I am British, I will be using the British school scheme. Infant School is for 4-7 year olds, and they do SATS- some little tests ready for the next school- aged 7. Junior School is for 7-11 year olds, and they do SATS aged 11. These schools can sometimes be combined, and are called Primary Schools. Secondary Schools are for 11-16 year olds and they do GCSE's- which determine their qualifications, aged 15 or 16, depending on when they were born. I might have my last test on my 16th birthday at this rate! Then you can go to Sixth Form College, Normal College, University etc. or just get a job straight away! Year's at school are the number above Grades. Eg- 8__th__ Grade is Year Nine. Any more information you want to know, just ask!~_

_JayflightCrows_


	2. Chapter 2- Francis

I stood there silently, the wind brushing against me. Looking down at the grave, I sighed.

_Pascal Bonnefoy,_

_Loving Husband to Jeanne Bonnefoy and Father to Francis Bonnefoy,_

_July 14__th __1976 - April 23__rd__ 2005_

_Sorely missed by all. Rest in Peace._

I had been told not to come here, but no-one would ever stop me. He was my Father, and if he was still around, the events that followed his death would have never happened.

My mother and father were soul mates, perfect matches. Once he died of Cancer when I was four, she became heartbroken. She ended getting so desperate for something to make her happy; she ended up dealing and taking drugs. After about three weeks, the Police got tipped off, and ended up getting sent to jail. Since there were no other people in the family who could take custody of me, I was sent to this old woman's house.

Her name was Mrs Downham. She was a bit strange, but there was something around her you could trust about her. She already was looking after two other boys, brothers Gilbert and Ludwig Beilschmidt. Gilbert was my age and Ludwig three years younger. When I was eight, another boy, Antonio Carriedo moved in. I still wasn't 100% sure what happened to the three of them, but I did vaguely.

Gilbert happily lived with his heavily pregnant mother and grandfather, and another relative, but he didn't tell me how they were related. When his mother eventually gave birth, to Ludwig, she had lost too much blood, and died three hours later. Gilbert was three years old at this point, but wasn't stupid, and knew what had happened.

Three years later, the four of them (Their Grandfather, Amery, the unknown relative, Gilbert and Ludwig), we having dinner, when someone rang the doorbell. Amery went to answer it, but as soon as he said "Hello?" a scream of agony came out. The other relative went to see what was going on, and once they saw, they told the two boys to pack their bags and go somewhere safe.

The two boys went next door, where Gil's friend Elizabeta lived. They lived there for a couple of weeks with her parents, until they moved in with Mrs Downham.

Antonio lived with his father, because his mother had left as soon as he was born. When I first met him, when we were eight, he was covered in scars and bruises all down his back, arms and some on his legs. Apparently, his father's side of the family had a whip collection. Toni's father also had a betting issue, and when he lost money, out came the whips for Antonio. It wasn't until a neighbour heard him screaming when he was eight that his father was found out though, and he soon ended up being sent to Mrs Downham.

A year ago, when we were twelve, and Ludwig was nine, Mrs Downham (who was around ninety at this point), suddenly had a heart attack and died. All of us were a bit edgy on whether we would be sent to an orphanage, but luckily, since Mrs Downham's deceased husband built the block of flats in his time, and we had the biggest and safest apartment, we were allowed to stay there, but if we annoyed the neighbours downstairs, or they came in and saw something suspicious, we would be out. Of course, there was nothing wrong, apart from the residents being me, a crazy Spaniard, and two German brothers, one who has to put 'Awesome' in front of anything he likes and 'Unawesome' in front of anything he didn't, and one stoic and serious. Of course, I was _completely normal_ compared to them.

Putting down the bunch of flowers I had got, red roses, I turned around and silently walked away, after breathing an 'I love you'. Red roses were always his favourite.

Slowly walking home, I kept my gaze onto the floor. Since it was the last week of the school holidays, some people that I knew were on the streets.

The town of Hetalia had a population of around 100'000, but it was safe enough if you lived in the right areas. The one I was in was also near a council estate, so most of the people living there were parents with schoolchildren. This area was also where you were defined as 'Gay', 'Druggie' or a 'Posh Snob'. There were four schools in the area, a Primary School which everyone went to, and three Secondary Schools. One being a posh boarding school for both boys and girls, the others were free schools, one a boy's school and one a girl's school. It was known by near enough everyone that the girls who went to the free school nearly always ended up alcoholic's or drug addicts, and the boys school usually resulted in gays. The ones at the boarding school were currently at home, but were slowly leaving to go back.

As I walked up the path leading to the flat, I saw Vash and Lili Zwingli, a brother and sister who both went to the boarding school, Vash's hand on Lili's as they crossed the road. Since Vash was my age, I knew he was very overprotective of her, since Lili was bullied a lot when she was younger, resulting in the two of them being sent to boarding school. Vash sent a curt nod my way while Lili stared at me, as she usually did with everyone.

There was also Heracles Harpusi and Sadik Adnan, pissing eachother off, as usual. Heracles kept his voice down most of the time, while Sadik just screamed his head off. The two of them went to the boy's school, but for now, neither of them had been marked down as 'Gays'.

Roderich Edelstein, another boarding school student, was striding down the road, his hands full with folders which looked like they were filled with sheet music. It wasn't unknown he was sat at the piano in his families front room 99% of the time. He didn't live around here; he was just visiting an Aunt. He was one of the richest teenagers in this side of town, and lives in a big house about two miles away.

Then there were the three boys who lived with 'The Scary Dude with the Big Nose', who was also known as Ivan Braginski. Fifteen year old Toris Laurinaitis and Fourteen year old Eduard von Bock were playing games with three year old Raivis Galante. The three of them didn't even know the definition of money, since the 'Scary Dude' had taken all their money they had from their parents off of them and they spent all their time playing around a tree. As you can probably guess, Ravis went to the Primary School while Toris and Eduard went to the free boy's school. I didn't know about Eduard, but Toris was going out with a boy called Feliks Łukasiewicz.

"I'm not you're wife!" suddenly came from a young adult who lived in the same flat's as I did. Tino Väinämöinen was sat down next to the silent Berwald Oxenstierna. An unlikely match, but these two were one of the first gay couples in their year, apparently. Berwald also had an obsession of calling Tino 'his wife', and the perkier of the two blonde's claimed he was a man, and that if he wanted to call him something, it should at least be 'husband'. But secretly, he liked it, and we all knew it.

That was when I finally reached the front door of the flat. As I jammed open the broken automatic doors, I found myself watching a Natalia Arlovskaya attack Ivan Braginski with love scene. It wouldn't even work out if they _weren't _siblings. Also, Ivan was the 'Scary Dude', but watching him with his younger sister, he seemed like he was going to cry.

Sneaking past the two of them, and a slightly nervous Katyusha Braginskaya, who was the two's older sister, who was mostly known around for her oversized boobs, I managed to get to the door that opened to the stairs. It was annoying since I lived on the top floor, but the lift stopped working in about two days after Mrs Downham died, as Mathias Køhler, a young adult who was a strong alcoholic, jammed something in the wires that made it work while drunk. It was supposedly a beer bottle, but the only ones who knew were the ones who lived on his floor, the Väinämöinen's, the Steilsson's, their cousins, the Bondevik's and the Oxenstierna's. Each group who lived on one floor had a name know for all of them, and this floor were 'The Nordic's'.

After going up the twelve flights of stairs, I finally reached the thirteenth. It was eleven a.m., and the same thing usually happened at around this time. Antonio would be having a siesta, Gilbert would be cleaning (a shocking thing for him), but had to take it too far, as he was usually seen wearing maid's clothes. Ludwig would either be reading or staring at something.

I was correct. Gilbert was _dancing with the hoover_ and _singing _something in German (I only picked up on one word), Ludwig was building a card tower, his ice blue eye's giving it a cold stare, and Antonio was no-where to be seen, which meant he was probably in his bedroom asleep. But, as Gil started to hoover the area around the table Ludwig was sitting at, he knocked it with the handle, sending the nearly-complete tower scattered around the floor. "Scheiße!" (**Can be either 'Shit' or 'Fuck')**

"West, seriously, where do you keep getting those swear words from?" he said, turning off the hoover.

"You." Ludwig said, rolling his eyes. Since he was so tall and mature, some people thought that he was actually Gil's unidentical twin. The two of them stared at eachother, but for Gilbert, I think he was just having a staring contest for a little fun. He lost, badly.

While the two of them stayed silent, some muttering came from Antonio's bedroom. We all knew that if he fell asleep on his back and started dreaming, he would say something every so often. "I've got everything I love for free. Apart from those nice Churros they sell in that bakery down the road. 65p (about $1) for one about a foot long." he started saying, his Spanish accent in full flow. "It's gone up yet again." A normal comment from the Spaniard.

In the space of two seconds, Gilbert and Ludwig went from staring at eachother to Gil's arms wrapped about Luddy's neck, rubbing his hair with his fist. "Nein! Nein! Stop it!" Ludwig said, trying to push himself out of his older brother's grasp. Due to being three years younger, the ten year old had a bit of trouble, but eventually pulled himself out. Grabbing his book, he went towards his room, and slammed the door, which woke up Antonio.

"So, Francey-pants, where you been?" Gilbert said, rolling up the hoover wire.

"I went to the graveyard." I said bluntly. Gilbert didn't care I went there when I wasn't supposed to, since the same graveyard was where his mother and grandfather were, so him and Ludwig also regularly went there. The two of them went yesterday, actually.

"I don't see why they don't let us go without being secretive. They're our damn family, not the social workers." Gilbert said, rolling his red eyes and brushing his hand through his platinum blonde hair.

As the two of us started moaning about the stupid social workers, Toni walked in, made himself a milkshake in a plastic cup and started slurping it loudly with this random curly straw he brought a while ago for no reason, watching the two of us as if he was at a cinema. "Lesson learned: Social Workers add Franny and Gil equals a German and a Frenchman who are both pretty peeved." he said, taking the straw out while he spoke, before going back to slurping even louder, flinging himself on the sofa and turning the television. The first thing that came on was a naked woman stroking herself down. "Now which one of you last had this on?" he asked softly. "And don't blame it on Ludwig, he's ten years old and probably doesn't even know what sex properly means."

"Oh, so you do?" Gilbert asked.

"Ask Franny, he lost his virginity when he was eleven."

"Why do you always bring that up whenever sex is mentioned?!"

"Because you were a naughty boy." he tutted. "Seriously, Franny, you fall in love with every single person you see, male or female. I'm surprised your status is still 'straight'."

I flicked my long blonde hair back. "You're only saying that because you haven't had a boyfriend _or _a girlfriend. Everyone just thinks I'm drop dead gorgeous."

"Those who aren't 'Everyone' think you're a pervert, and they're right." Gil muttered.

"You're just jealous." I smirked.

"Answer the question!" Toni whined. "Her boob's are giving me nightmares!"

"You should have changed the goddamn channel then!"

Ludwig's door opened.

"Just to inform you, it was me who had the TV on last, so can you just shut up? You're giving me a headache."

Antonio looked at eachother and gave a slight "Oh…" before focusing on Gilbert.

There was silence for a few seconds, before:

"WEST!"


	3. Chapter 3- Arthur

_Five Days Later- The Day before School Starts_

Forcing my eyes, to open, I checked the clock. 6 O'clock.

Since I stayed with Alfred and Matthew a lot when I was younger, I knew the rough schedule before I came to live here, and it hadn't changed one bit. Aunty Madeline and Matthew would be awake, but Alfred and Uncle Alistair would be out for a long time.

Mother had her sentence yesterday. Ten Years. I would be twenty-three by the time she came out.

Hauling myself out of bed, I focused my eyes on what was outside. Since Uncle Alistair didn't get so much money now he wasn't a full time Police Officer now, they had to move right next to the Council Estate, since Aunty Madeline was a housewife. Right next door was a block of flats, and opposite were some houses with small balconies. These houses on this side of the road were the only ones that weren't council houses.

I turned around and walking downstairs quietly. Matthew was sat reading a book, and Aunt Madeline must have gone out. Once he noticed me, he smiled, marked his page and put the book down. "Good Morning, Arthur."

"Good Morning Matthew."

Matthew smiled softly. "Are you nervous?"

"Nervous for what?" My Mother had been sentenced and I had gone to the doctors to get my head sorted out three days ago, so what was there to worry about?

"Oh, my parents haven't told you. You're coming to the same school as us."

"Oh, OK." I said. The two of them went to the free boy's school, Grange, about five minutes away, so it would be less hassle than going to the school in the neighbouring town, which was now forty five minutes away. I looked at Matthew again, and he was biting his lip. "What's so bad about that?"

"Because dude, you're gonna freak out!" Two arms suddenly wrapped around my chest to see Alfred's dirty blonde hair smothering my face.

"Off, wanker!"

"Why do you swear, Artie? You never used to!"

"First, don't call me Artie. Second, my mouth, my words, not yours, live with it. Third, why am I going to freak out?"

"Because near enough everyone at the school is gay!"

_Crap_.

The truth is, I'm homophobic. Always have been, always will be. What is the point in falling in love with a man when you're a man yourself? Seeing two men or two women do something romantic to eachother makes me cringe.

"Anyways, Artie, Dad told me and Mattie to show you around since it's changed a bit since you came. He'll be down in a minute, but he said get changed first."

_Great. _Alfred was even more annoying than he was when we were children, and believe me, even the teachers got annoyed with him, even though he got perfect marks and levels. And now I had to spend the whole day with them.

Matthew and I walked upstairs to get dressed, since Alfred was already dressed, even though it looked like he had slept in them. Pulling out a white button-up shirt, black tailored trousers and a black jacket (almost like a suit, but not so posh), and pulled them on slowly. Grabbing a comb, I ran it through my hair. It felt strange, since it was too painful to bear just a couple of days ago. It still stung, so I just left my hair slightly neater, but still a mess.

Following that, I walked into the bathroom to wash my face and clean my teeth. It smelt of burning in there, and I realised someone was having a bonfire to burn something, and it smelled like it was illegal. That's council houses for you.

Alfred walked in, grinning so widely that I'm surprised his face stayed in one piece. "What's made you so happy?"

"The hero is in charge while were out!"

"Hooray." I said sarcastically.

"Ah, come on, it'll be fun!" he said, wrapping an arm around my neck.

"Get off, wanker!"

"Don't swear! I don't like it!"

"Tough Luck."

"Alfred! Arthur! Unless you want to starve you probably want to get down here right now!" Uncle Alistair called from the bottom of the stairs. If that was Matthew, both Alfred and I probably would have fainted.

Alfred winked a blue eye at me, before literally dragging me. "I know the house, Alfred."

"Yeah, but, dude, you get distracted."

"That's because you don't see what I see."

"I don't because it doesn't exist, Iggy."

"Call me that one more time, wanker, and you're in for it." I said. He _always _used to call me Iggy when we were children, and still does now as he knows how much I hate it.

But, seriously, he didn't see _them_? I sighed, nobody did.

When I first started getting abused and locked away from everyone else was when I first met them. The Unicorns, the Fairies, and Flying Mint Bunny. Problem is, I'm the only one who sees them, and so most people think I'm completely mad when they see me with them, as I'm just talking into thin air. It's sometimes annoying, especially when Alfred spotted me yesterday. Stupid wanker.

"Arthur, you're going all crazy again."

"Go away!"

"Your eyes go a darker shade of green when you think."

"I knew that already!" I snapped.

"Someone got up on the wrong side of bed…" Uncle Alistair said. Alfred was basically his personality twin, I don't know how Matthew coped with both his Dad and twin brother both being so annoying. Probably grown up with it, although he does seem a little irritated. He does seem a little unnaturally calm, but maybe he's just hiding his inner emotion? I'm not sure, but I'm going to try and find out.

* * *

"You remember here, Artie, right?"

I nodded, ignoring being called 'Artie'. "They were just building a supermarket here, and it opened just before my seventh birthday."

"Oh, yeah, that's just over there." Alfred said pointing. He was the only one speaking out of him and Matthew, who was just staring into thin air. "They built another one just opposite, too, where the old furniture shop was."

I nodded. The car park at the old furniture shop was always empty, so I wasn't surprised.

"Oh, and there's Mr Wang's Chinese Restaurant." Alfred said, pointing to a small building. "He worked at that smaller one by where the Primary School was when you came round. He's known for saying 'Those Western Nations Are So Immature, I doubt any of them ever grew up', and he's adopted loads of Asian kids who live here, but only two of them still live with him, Kiku Honda and Im Yong Soo, the rest moved out."

"Wasn't that were the tractor place was?"

"Apparently it wasn't that hard to refurbish. Kiku told me, he's our age and in our year at school."

"Oh, OK" I said, watching Matthew. He was so unfocused on everything going on; his violet eyes had lost all their colour. He suddenly snapped back though when Alfred poked him in the ribs.

"And now you'll realise why I said bring bikes" Alfred said. "We're going to the school"

"It's about two miles away, though"

"So?" Alfred said, shrugging his shoulders, pulling his bike up from next to where he was standing.

"That fat-ass of yours is going to work, hmm?"

"Dude, you haven't seen me ride" he said, sitting down on the seat and starting to pedal. Matthew was about to get on his own and follow his twin.

I grabbed my own bike. Next to theirs, it looked really old, since it was originally my father's. Well, from what I remembered, a strange man, who looked scarily like me (and was later revealed to be my father) came into the house when I was around eight, brought in lots of boxes, including the bike saying, "For the kid,", and then leaving and never coming back. At this point, I was in the living room, on the sofa, clinging onto a pillow. This was when I was only just starting to get abused, so it wasn't every day.

Realising that the two of them were nearly out of sight, I raced to catch up with them. "Dude, away with the fairies again?" Alfred asked once I reached them.

"No."

"Bet you were"

I just ignored him.

* * *

Eventually getting close to the school, we went up 'Falcon Road'. This was where most of the council houses were, and most of the drug dealers, alcoholic's etc. At the speed we were going, I was slightly out of breath, as was Matthew, but Alfred was completely fine. "Football, dude. I'm the school captain" he answered, when he realised what I was thinking, pulling off his helmet, his crescent-shaped curl sticking up. Once Matthew snapped out of his daze again, and took his helmet off, his curl showed aswell. One thing I didn't get off my mother's side of the family, the trademark curl.

The three of us decided to walk up, to see several teenagers running in front of a passing car. A tall blonde boy with piercing green eyes looked as a younger girl (who looked like his sister), and held onto her hand tighter. A boy with an Australian accent was hugging a scary looking koala (which I think was real), while another, younger girl, who had her hair pinned up sideways, was sitting on a bench, her hair blowing in a small gust of wind that was flowing around.

"Puh-lease, I am fabulous!" Another blonde boy said, wrapping his arm around a tall brown haired boy, his lips near enough on his face. _Not in front of me, no,_ I thought. Unfortunately for me, the blonde pulled the brown haired boy and passionately kissed him on the cheek.

Meanwhile in the background, there was someone screaming their head off. A tan skinned boy with a mask over his eyes was going absolutely ballistic at a long haired boy, with a cat on his shoulder, who was silently talking back to him, but it seemed each of them were pushing eachother to the limit.

"Those two arguing are in our year, Heracles and Sadik, if you _don't _see them arguing, tell me," Alfred said. "Feliks and Toris, those two guys you freaked out at are two years older than us."

We eventually passed them all and reached one of the two entrances to the school. This one was more shaded, but it was nearer the office than the yard. Two masks symbolised the schools logo, as it was a Visual and Performing Arts School. It looked friendly enough, but what went on inside was what I wasn't so pleased about.

"First day tomorrow." Alfred said, as, of course, Matthew was in another daze, staring at a tall tree in front of the gates (The entrance was on a small roundabout). "The only thing I can be bothered to do in there is find out the timetable. Loads of teachers left last year, and apparently this strange guy from a school that just closed down is teaching us for Design Technology"

I nodded. "How big are the classes?"

"Twenty seven or eight to a class, three classes in our year. I'm in Westmorland, Mattie's in Lancaster and you're in Northumberland, but they're shortened to the year and first letter, so you're in 9N. That means you've got the B.T.T."

"What does that mean?"

"You'll find out tomorrow, and trust me, you probably won't like them. Anyway, 9N's got this Physics teacher as a form tutor. Most people think she's a little naggy, but some people are on her good side, like Mattie. Depends on what she thinks of you and whether you push her to the limit. Apparently, someone in the year above us had a textbook thrown at them when she got annoyed. She threw one at me last year aswell, it hurt."

"You were probably being you."

"And that mean's?"

"Annoying."

"Not nice, dude, not nice"

"I'm not a very nice person."

"Just because I was born in California."

"I'm not saying anything about you being born in California."

"Guys, stop it" Matthew said, obviously drawn out of his daze.

"Let's me just warn you Arthur, you are going to change if you go to this school, don't deny it." Alfred said. "Just you wait until tomorrow."


	4. Chapter 4- Arthur

_The Next Day- The First Day of School _

As the two minute warning whistle was blown ready for registration, I pulled my rucksack further up my shoulder as I walked from the Year Nine yard to the Physics class- my form room. Everything hadn't started off great, either, and for two reasons:

Reason One: As we walked to school, Matthew sped on ahead. When I asked Alfred why he wasn't catching up with him, as he had slowed right down, he just simply to told me to wait and see. Once we got closer to the gates, I realised.

"Gay!"

"Tramp!"

"Suck my cock, Williams! Oh, wait, you'd like that!"

These were all that could be heard, as these were yelled at someone on the floor, who the shouters were kicking like a doll. Matthew. "I told him I'd help him, but if I do or try anything, he drags me somewhere after school and tells me that if I do anything, I'll get it too, even if I am the football team's captain."

"Why Matthew out of everyone?"

"They _always_ pick on the first one in the year who is found out to be gay. In our year, it's Mattie. They kick him, jeer at him and get him into trouble whenever they can. He won't let me tell anyone, and he won't himself, so he's just making it worse."

"Matthew's gay?" I cringed. _Not my own cousin…_

"Came as a surprise to me to." Alfred shrugged, obviously forgetting my disgust in gays.

The two of us walked pass, keeping an eye on Matthew, both of us wanting to help, but we knew what would happen if we did.

Reason Two: It seems that one of the teachers knew my father, and didn't take it too nicely.

"Jones, who's this?" a tall, slightly cold looking woman asked.

"Oh, hi Miss!" Alfred said, trying to smile innocently. "This is my older cousin, Arthur Kirkland."

"Kirkland, eh? Well, just to let you know, your father is a-" I refused to listen to her jeering at me because I happened to be the son of Charles Kirkland. I mean, was it my choice I would be born his son? No!

"M-Miss?" Alfred started. "Arthur never lived with his dad."

"Who d'you live with then?"

"I live with Alfred's family for now, but before that, Alice Britannia?" I said, cautiously. It had been on the news about my mother's jail sentence, so I had to be careful about what I said.

"Britannia? She's just as bad. Criminal Scum-", and off she went again.

Once she finally finished, the two of us avoided her. "You won't have her teaching you, since you'll probably be in top set maths. She teaches bottom set."

"Good."

* * *

And here I was now, standing outside the Physics class. Already there was a small dirty blonde, a boy with jet black hair, and a dark brown haired boy with what are now referred to 'Harry Potter' glasses. Another boy who was around 5'10" came up next. "Hey, Arthur, is that you?"

"Yes?" I said, trying to remember who it was.

"Welcome to the Mad School." they said simply. "And even more unfortunately for us, the Bad Touch Trio are in this class."

At least I found out what B.T.T. was short for. "Who's that?"

"Gilbert Beilschmidt, an acclaimed 'Prussian' although he's from Germany, Antonio Carriedo, a Spaniard, and Francis Bonnefoy, a Frenchman. All live in the same house with Gilbert's little brother, Ludwig, and if you aren't high enough on Gilbert's 'Awesome Scale'; which is near enough nobody, you're in for a hard time."

"Oh, thanks for telling me." I nodded. From when I went to the Primary School, I vaguely remembered Gilbert, but the other two names were vague to me.

That's when the whispers started. Near enough everyone in the form had lined up now, and apparently, the Bad Touch Trio were about to make their appearance.

They were literally bowed upon. Gilbert was in the middle, with his platinum blonde hair and blood red eyes, and laughing his usual laugh of 'Kesesese,' (one thing you would never forget if you heard). On his right was a smiling boy with brown hair and green eyes, and had a lollipop in his mouth. His shirt was tightly tucked in, so tightly it made him look like he was mad. From a whisper from the person I had been talking to, that was Antonio. Meaning that the other one was Francis. He was flicking his long blonde hair, his blue eyes on Gilbert and Antonio. He looked like a wanker.

The three of them stopped right next to me. "Kirky's back!" Gilbert said. "Where you been?"

"Another school."

"One of those schools for posh scums. Why did you come to this dump then?"

"None of your concern."

Antonio took the lollipop out of his mouth. "Your Alfred and Matthew's cousin aren't you?" he asked, and I could easily tell he was Spanish, as his accent flowed through out of it.

"Toni, _I'm _talking to Arthur, now go eat a tomato."

"But Miss McKaren will be her normal self and go 'You're not meant to eat or drink in a Science Lab, throw it in the bin' and I am _not _throwing any of my precious tomatoes in the bin!"

Gilbert sighed and dragged Antonio somewhere else down the corridor, leaving me with the _frog_. Francis flicked his hair before speaking to me. "_Bonjour_, mon copain" (_**Hello**_**, my friend). **

"What does a wanker like you want?" I asked. I couldn't _stand_ the French, from their accents to their annoying language. Unfortunately, until the end of the year, I had to take it twice a week, so I knew what he had said.

"I'm just trying to make friends, _mon cher_" Wait, did he just say my dear at the end of that? THAT IS DISGUSTING!

"Get you and your French-ness away from me!" I said, pushing him as far away as I could.

He looked slightly offended, but shrugged. "You'll regret saying that to me eventually" he said softly, before going to find where Antonio and Gilbert had gone.

"Yeah, in your dreams" I muttered.

* * *

Out of every first lesson in the year. French, followed by Maths, Geography and English. Maths was OK if you had the right teacher, but apart from Geography, they were all rubbish. Especially when I found out the French wanker had it with me.

"OK! I'll put you in your seating order as of next week!" Miss Blakeless said, which resulted in a lot of groaning. Matthew's form was already here, but Alfred charged in right at that moment, knocking someone over. "Sorry, dude" he said, but didn't help them up.

"For now, sit wherever you want, since some of you are new to this set and there is a new boy, yes?" she said, looking me straight into the eye. I hated it when people did that, so I looked away after nodding.

An arm wrapped around me as Alfred smiled, and he had done the same to Matthew. "I'm sitting with you guys!" he said.

The three of us found a seat right at the front, since most of the idiots had decided to sit in the back, so they could muck around and were less likely to get caught, including the Bad Touch Trio. Miss Blakeless then went onto ranting on about things I already knew, and from what I saw, everyone else did too.

After about half an hour, she started shouting at people. "Mr Adnan, please be quiet! Mr Honda, would you please wake up Mr Karpusi? And Mr Bonnefoy, you haven't listened to a word I've said!"

"Mais Mademoiselle, je suis bilingue." (**But Miss, I am bilingual) **

Miss Blakeless looked a bit embarrassed. "Well, just let everyone else listen."

"Ohohohon, oui mademoiselle" Francis said, leaning back in his chair, before going back to talking again. Damn frog.

As the lesson finally rolled to an end, it was break time. Alfred and Matthew (who was sticking closely to us), were showing me around and introducing me to teacher, but these one's were nice enough.

Once the whistle for third lesson went, the three of us went up to Maths. Matthew and I were in top set, while Alfred was in second set with a teacher who just got married, and most people were surprised anyone would want to marry _her,_so I guess nobody liked her really. The teacher Matthew and I had was around sixty years of age, hair full turned grey, and from the sounds of it, he was one of the teachers you liked or hated. "Alright!" he shouted. "Just sit your butts down on those plastic things supposedly called 'chairs' and shut yer gobs!"

"He was in the Navy." Matthew explained.

As we all sat down somewhere, Sir smiled, pretending that he hadn't just shouted at us as if we were disobedient dogs. "Now, for this lesson, you are going to be doing something different. This is just a quiz of you as a person, and answer it TRUTHFULLY."

As Sir handed out some of the papers, some of the class snickered. I was convinced he was eying up the metre ruler, which would probably give them sore butt's for a while.

As a sheet was placed in front of me, I studied the sheet:

_Generally, how do you feel?_

_1)Happy_

_2)Neutral_

_3)Sad_

_4)Depressed _

_5)Stressed_

Tempted to write _generally pissed _underneath, I just circled 4.

_How is your family life?_

_1)No Problems_

_2)Minor Problems, Nothing Major_

_3)Depends on how members are getting on._

_4)Not very good._

_5)Extremely poor._

I automatically circled 5.

And most of the questions ended up with the same, negative results. "Alright, turn the sheet's over and add your points up, then read the result."

This should be fun. My results added up to forty-seven, so I looked to the bottom of the sheet to see the result:

_40-48: You're currently a bit down in the dumps._

A bit?!

Reading the more detailed description, I sighed. This made my life seem like it did before I turned seven, basic and care-free. I wished it was like it was before.

"_Arthur! Bet you can't catch me!"_

"_That's easy Alfred!"_

"_You two are going to run straight into that table…"_

_BAM!_

"_Mattieeeeee~ My head hurt's!"_

"_I told you!"_

"_Kiss it better Arthur! It's your fault!"_

"_Who ran into the table?"_

"_You chased me!"_

That memory…

That was when we were four years old. It was 'playtime', so we were just messing around like any four year olds would. Alfred cut his head open, since there was actually something that shouldn't be put near young children on the edge of the table, and it went straight in his eye, meaning he had to have an operation, and wear glasses from that day. Matthew wore his from poor eyesight, nothing else.

That was when I realised that the Maths teacher was looking at my results, before he sympathetically smiled, picking up my sheet.

* * *

Geography wasn't overly bad. We had a quiz on the countries in Europe, and I managed to get thirty eight out of forty two (I forgot one of the rivers in Mainland Europe and got Denmark, Belgium and Netherlands Capital's mixed up). Well, that wasn't bad, considering that Alfred got seven. "Dude! I'm from North America, set me a test on that, ditching the Caribbean, and I'll get 100%!"

"That's hardly any, Mr Jones." Mr Richardson said, tutting silently at Alfred.

"It's true though!" Alfred said, pouting. "Not cool."

"Alright!" Sir spoke up, nearly shouting, if only Black Eyed Pea's wasn't blaring out from Religious Education next door (It had some meaning, I think it was about poverty, terrorism, child abuse etc.). "Next week, I am assigning you a project, and you will be with a partner I have chosen already!" Several groans filled the classroom. "This project will be to do a study on one continent. This means you have to have information on the continent in general, AND the countries in it. Mr Jones, that includes the Caribbean." Alfred gave Mr Richardson the evils as he said this. "You will have one month after you partner has been assigned to complete it." he said, before the bell rang and everyone was dismissed for lunch.

"Damn, Sir's known for partnering worst enemies together. I'll probably get paired with Carlos." Alfred said, looking at the slightly overweight student glaring at him already. Apparently he hated in Alfred in general, and the glare had been there since he mentioned 'ditching the Caribbean', as he was from Cuba. He got on with Matthew fine, but had a strong hating for Alfred. "As will Adnan and Heracles, and by your bad luck, Artie, you and Francis."

"You're kidding me." I practically did the action Alfred would call a 'facepalm'. I really needed to be paired with the frog for something like _that_, as Sir had mentioned later in his little announcement that the work would probably have to be worked on at each other's homes to get the highest level, and my Geography target was one of the highest in the class, so I needed it pretty badly.

"Unfortunately not." Matthew muttered. If he said so, it was the truth.

"Damn."

* * *

English. A lesson I didn't like at all, unless it was literature., but Miss didn't half like talking much?

Since she hadn't taught any of us, she spent the whole lesson trying to remember our names, and then started playing a solider song 'It's a long way to Tipperary', since apparently, we are doing WWI poetry.

As the lesson eventually went second by second, nearly everyone was looking at the clock. (Apparently the second hand broke off two years ago, and was still lying between the seven and the five). When the bell went, nearly everyone went straight for their stuff and raced out of class.

Eventually finding my way out, I saw Alfred and Matthew leaning against the bike rack, since we had taken our bike to school. But as the three of us started pedalling back to their house, I suddenly felt someone touch my shoulder; drag me off my bike, and into a dark alleyway…


	5. Chapter 5- Francis

This is just a short fill-in chapter. Sorry if you wanted it to be longer, I will try to next chapter DX

* * *

_5 Days Later- Food Technology Classroom_

That boy, Arthur Kirkland, confused me.

First, because of how he acted towards certain people, especially after the first day. Apparently something had happened to him, but I hadn't heard what.

Second, he burnt a _salad._

How is that even possible?

It was just the average F.T. lesson for Grange Year 9. Gil and Toni decided to mock me, because I had to wear my hair my hair tied up, but it still looked beautiful, whatever they said. My cousin, Lovino Vargas, decided to curse and kick the oven until he nearly broke his foot and was sent out of class, due to 'damaging school property and inappropriate language'. Miss even noted that the ovens were 'new' when he said they didn't work, even though just the posters about expiry dates ended before I was even born. Heracles nearly fell asleep over a working over, before getting grabbed and screamed at by Sadik. Someone I didn't know anything about, apart from they were from somewhere foreign, started screaming in their own language as they had burnt their finger, and it had blistered. Miss had already blown her fuse twice already, and I'm surprised she hadn't thrown a utensil at someone, since she was half-sisters with the Physics teacher who threw a book at someone. She was currently clawing a table, just like that scary sister of that scary guy. I swear their surname should be Scary, with exceptions for Katyusha.

"Mr. Beilschmidt, clean up that water you've just spilled, someone could slip."

And as you guessed, someone decided to slide along it before Gil finally decided to clean it up.

Someone named Antonio Carriedo.

Big surprise.

"Owie, my butt hurts."

"Mr Beilschmidt, I told you five minutes ago to clean that up, and now Mr Carriedo has gone and hurt himself."

"It was ten second ago…" Gilbert muttered, before grabbing a mop and wiping the wet patch.

Antonio then decided to be his overdramatic self, and decided to start moaning as if there was a spike on the floor, and it had stabbed him. Miss, who hated people getting hurt since she got shouted at, started mothering him, even though Antonio's face looked like he was silently screaming at her to get off, especially when she wrapped her arms around him. Most of the class had to hide their smirks.

Dumm Lehrer gehen kann graben ein tiefes Loch echte, springen, und hoffe, dass sie in ihm wird eingebrochen, damit sie nicht herauskommen kann nie wieder."(Stupid teacher can go dig a real deep hole, jump in it, and hope she gets caved in it so she can't come out ever again.") Gil started muttering curses at her, since all of us would be more shocked to find out someone _liked _her.

* * *

As soon as I got home, I felt like falling straight asleep.

The reason why I wanted to was because I didn't sleep well last night. The reason why:

_Mother had been in jail for seven years today. And she only had three years left of her sentence._

When she first got sent to jail, I really wanted her back, since all kid's do and I was naïve to what she had done, but now, I dread the day she comes out.

Flopping myself on the bed, I sighed. _Life sucks._

"Hey, Francis, aren't you cooking tonight?"

I pulled myself off of the bed and walked into the kitchen, forcing my eyes to stay open. "Hey, Francey-Pants, if you're so tired, I'll cook." Gilbert said, lounging on the sofa in the living room.

"Thanks…" I muttered softly, walking back into my room.

Before going back to where I was laying, I went to my desk. It had been there since I'd moved here, and it was rather old, but it did its job, so I couldn't complain. I then grabbed the key in an old trinket box I'd found and opened the drawer.

Inside lay just one thing, but it meant the whole world to me.

The last picture before my father was taken down with cancer, and my mother became a madwoman.

I was only two years old when my father was diagnosed, so I was wrapped in his arms, a toothy grin. I had a wild mass of curly blonde hair, though it had neatened out, and it was only wavy now. I'd inhabited every feature off of my father, from his long blonde hair to his blue eyes, apart from my mother's smile, and my facial hair wasn't quite as obvious as his was…yet.

If I had the chance to press a rewind button, and save my father from cancer, I would. If he hadn't gone, then we would still happily be together, the three of us. I didn't live in Hetalia before then, I lived in one of the posh estates outside of it, since my father had a good job that paid him well. We lost everything the day he was diagnosed, and had to move to a cheap area in Hetalia. It was OK, since I had more friends, but apart from that, it was absolutely horrible there. The whole street was known for dealing drugs, and the day mother was arrested, about twenty-five other people on the street were too.

_Why does one event have to go and change everything? What had I done wrong?_


	6. Chapter 6- Arthur

_Two Days Later- Maths Classroom_

"…And so, this angle is twice the size of that one, does anyone know why?"

I fiddled with my pen, completely ignoring the lesson going on. Why did I need to know about the size of angles in circles when I wasn't going to do anything with them when I grew up? Alfred was pretty lucky that Sir had hearing problems; he was fast asleep and snoring at the back of the classroom. He had only just moved into this class, and was already putting a bad impression on himself.

After Sir started shouting because nobody had a clue, but pretended they didn't know how to word it, someone finally raised their hand and answered. Well, at least my ears were at rest. Since Sir couldn't fully hear himself, he was much louder than even some of the loudest people in the year, including an angry girl's P.E. teacher, and of course, my younger cousin, who I needn't mention.

There was a small clock in the bottom corner of Sir's laptop, and I was close enough to see each minute edge on. I wrote down the part's I was told to, which ended up as three full pages. Three full pages.

"Alright, pack up!" Sir yelled, obviously annoyed with half of the class, especially those who had positioned themselves at the back. Sir may have hearing problems, but he had eyes like a hawk. Matthew awkwardly starting poking Alfred to wake him up, who yelled and smacked his brother in the face. Matthew looked dazed, but eventually focused his violet eyes to the front of the class.

After about two minutes of noise so loud that my ears were ringing, the bell eventually rang. Sir was placing us with our Geography partner's today, which was _great_. First, I had low charisma and social skills anyway, and most people had said that enemies would be placed together anyway.

I eventually got my things sorted and made my way over to the Geography department. The two of them were in different buildings, so when I walked outside, I felt the cold air nip my nose. _It was only September…_probably because of the heat wave in August; it seemed colder than it was. I shrugged my shoulders. Why was I thinking of philosophical things? Snap back into it, Arthur!

While my mind wandered off, I found myself just about to open the Geography door, when I noticed a note on the door:

_Mr. Richardson is ill, so please go to Mr. McHavisham's class. _

_List of groups:_

_Francis Bonnefoy and Arthur Kirkland._

Shit. I know it was obvious, but I still was pretty annoyed.

_Prepare roughly what you are going to do, and then decide whose house you're going to work at. You thought this was classwork? Nope._

_Presentations are in two weeks. The more work you do, the better your grade, as you've probably guessed. I put you with people you don't usually work with to see how well you do with people you seem unfamiliar with. _

_Remember, the better you get on, the better your grade. _

_Mr R. Richardson._

I scanned the sheet to see who Matthew and Alfred were with. Matthew was with Gilbert Beilschmidt (That wouldn't work in the slightest), and Alfred with Kiku Honda (Kiku would need to get some earplugs).

I knew roughly where Mr. McHavisham's class was. He was a Maths and Physics teacher, so he had a class at the end of the Science's corridor. Right on the other side of the school.

Finally finding the class due to all the noise coming from the room, all the way up the corridor, I opened the door and sighed.

"Arthur, isn't it? Sit next to whoever your partner is; I couldn't be bothered to read my half-bro's scrawly writing."

Yes, Mr. Richardson is Mr. McHavisham's younger half-brother boy two months. Not alike at all apart from same dad and blue eyes, physically or mentally.

I slumped myself down next to Francis. "Make one mistake, frog, you're in for it. I'm only co-operating so I get a decent grade."

Francis looked me in the eye, before smiling softly. "So am I."

"Since when did you have decent marks?"

"Mine's higher than your's, mon ami." He said, before pulling a sheet his arm was rested on.

Target Grades:

Bonnefoy, Francis: 7C

Kirkland, Arthur: 6A

(A/N: Higher the number, the better, and then the letters go from C to A, same as Grades)

"Only because I'm stressed because what happened to my mother."

"My mere is in jail, too."

"You're kidding."

"Non, she's been in jail since I was eight."

I stopped for a second then. Francis' mother was in jail?!

"And that's why I live with Gilbert, Antonio and Ludwig." He said softly, looking down. "Anyway, before you say anything, we're not doing the project at my maison."

"You're not coming to mine either!"

The two of us stayed quiet, before Francis said something. "I'll show you somewhere I used to go when I was younger, we can work there."

"Fine by me." I said, not wanting to cause an argument.

"OK! Quiet!" Mr McHavisham said. "I need you all to find out the following things about eachother." He said, putting worksheets down on each table. "However you do it, fine by me."

There was one between the both of us, split into half.

HOW MANY SIBLINGS DO YOU HAVE?

Francis automatically wrote none, but I ended up writing 3, with half-siblings in brackets. "You have half siblings?" Francis asked.

I nodded. "My dad slept about a lot, but they live with their mother's. They're all brothers, Blain, Breandan and Dyllan."

"They're…unusual names."

"They're traditional." I said, shrugging my shoulders. I had only met Dyllan out of the three of them. "Blain's Scottish, Breandan's Irish and Dyllan's Welsh. They're authentic names from those countries."

"Oh." Francis said. "Well, that's interesting."

The two of us looked down at the next question.

NAME ONE OF YOUR PHOBIA'S

Francis' result: Scopophobia – Fear of being looked at or stared at.

"Wait, you like people looking at your 'beauty'!"

"My mother said she would find me and kill me when she came out of jail…I'm just scared someone is finding me ready for her."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Non, it's OK. You didn't know."

I quickly wrote down: Hyelophobia- Fear of glass.

"Is it because you got abused with it?"

I nodded.

NAME YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS IN THIS SCHOOL:

Francis quickly wrote down Lovino and Feliciano Vargas- Cousins.

I wrote Alfred F. Jones and Matthew Williams- Cousins, Dyllan Kirkland- Half-brother.

NOW, DON'T WRITE THIS, BUT TELL EACHOTHER SOMETHING YOU HAVE NEVER TOLD ANYONE ELSE.

"What?!" We both said at the same time.

"Fine, I'll go first." I said quickly. "I've considered committing suicide since everything happened."

"I've, I've wanted to get adopted off to somewhere other than here."

"I want to get out of here as soon as I've finished school and become an author."

"Oui, you seem the type."

"And how would you know what type I am?"

"Oh, Arthur, you are so predicatable~" Francis said, winking at me. Perverted frog.

He smirked to himself, before getting clouted around the head.

* * *

"Why have you taken us out of town?"

"Because that's where I grew up."

I stared out into the countryside outside of Hetalia. It was full of fields of sheep and cows and horses. I had never been this far out of the town, so I was mesmerised. The bus we were in wasn't even that crowded, so it was quiet, too.

"Arthur? We have to get off now."

I suddenly jolted back to reality as Francis poked me sharply in my arm. "Frog, that hurt!"

"Well, someone had gone in a daze."

I groaned. I had to stop going into dazes.

Once we finally managed to get off the bus, purposely treading on each other's feet in the process for good measure, we somehow managed to get off of the bus and onto a small trail just behind the stop. I had never been this far out into the countryside, so I had to follow him.

"Here."

I looked around. This seemed like a 'Francis spot'. There were little clumps of flowers scattered around and a couple of tree's, with a small lake next a couple of hundred feet away. It was just that basic; there was nothing more to it.

"I used to come here as a child. That's where I used to live." Francis said, pointing to a house slightly in the distance.

"That's a manor house!"

"My père was pretty rich in his time."

"What happened to your father then, if you don't mind me asking?"

"He died when I was five."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to offend-"

"It's OK." Francis said, his blue eyes losing focus and going off into the distance. "Most people insult me, so it's kind of different someone saying that."

Well, now he seemed completely different to who he was at school. Instead of a perverted flirt, he was calm and smiling softly at something he was thinking of. Strange how much people change when they're with different people.

"Follow me." Francis said, dragging me off with him.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

After getting dragged through a small wood, we finally stopped. He had taken me to a graveyard.

_Pascal Bonnefoy_

_July 14th 1976 - April 23rd 2005_

"He died on my fifth birthday…"

"Strange. I was born on his 24th birthday."

The two of us stood in an awkward silence. "Your surname's Kirkland, right, Arthur?"

"Yes, it is. Why?"

"Look." Francis said, pulling me in front of another grave.

_Elizabeth Kirkland_

"I didn't know my grandmother was buried here."

"Well, now you do." Francis said.

The two of us walked around the graveyard for another half an hour, before finally leaving. Francis seemed content. He was completely different without Antonio and Gilbert there.

The two of us managed to get some work done, but we decided to start research in tomorrow's lesson. Apparently Mr Richardson wouldn't be back until presentation day, so we _were _allowed to work at school. I also had to get going, since it was getting dark and I had been told to be back at six.

"I've got to go, Francis."

"Au revoir, Arthur."

And just like that, I walked off one way, and Francis walked off the other way, smiling to himself.

* * *

_OK, so I have a few things to tell you. I am going to do something for each day of the project, but they will still be once a week updates, since I don't have THAT much time._

_I am also going to try going in third person for the project, and at the end I will see which you prefer, first or third person._

_Thanks for reading this far, I really appreciate it~_

_P.S.- Guess what? I got my English level yesterday :D Level 7c/7b (Secure GCSE Grade B :D), and I still have two and a half years until the tests (I'm only Year 9/8th Grade), so I'm pretty proud :D_


	7. Day 1 (Thursday)

"Frog, we're doing something productive today."

A positive aura hung around Arthur today, but Francis had no clue where it had come from. Nor did he spoil it, since he had NEVER seen him smile. "Oui, just tell me what to do."

The two of them looked at the list they had written the night before, before going to the graveyard. Since Arthur was British through and through, as Francis was a Frenchman, the two opted for doing Europe. A lot of countries in a small area, but at least there would be a lot of progress done.

Mr McHavisham had let them research on the computers, so most people have seated themselves at one, logging themselves in on the desktops scattered around the class. As Arthur's computer slowly loaded, he looked around the class. Most of what he heard (before he even turned), was a mix of shouting, things being thrown across the class with big bangs, and Alfred had a bag of party poppers (Arthur had no clue where he had got them from), and him and some others in the class were setting them off right behind unsuspecting victims, half of them screaming like girls. Mr McHavisham (the prankster out of him, Mr Richardson, his younger sister and older brother), for some reason, had fallen fast asleep with one in his mouth, not caring about the messy floor.

"Finally." Arthur groaned, as the 'Welcome' screen was finally replaced with the main screen. Turning on Internet Explorer (please note, the computers are older than everyone in the room, and only three years younger than Mr McHavisham), he managed to find a promising looking page, and smiled in achievement as he found the screen filled with useful information.

Meanwhile, Francis, positioned at one of the only spare computers left by the time they reached them, was poised at the other side of the room, groaning. The computer was 'Not Responding'.

As he cured the machine under his breath in French, Gilbert walked past. "Kesese, someone's messed your computer up. Press Ctrl, Alt and Delete."

As Francis did so, the screen turned a ghostly white, before red lines filled the screen, eventually forming words:

I WILL FIND YOU AND I WILL KILL YOU.

"Natalya trolled your comp." Gilbert said bluntly.

"She doesn't even know I went on this computer."

"She knows where you live, though. Want to know where all the keys are just in case?"

"She won't kill me. How would she have even gotten into the school?"

"Kesese, Francey-pants, I've been joking and you took it all seriously!"

"I know, Gil." Francis was used to Gilbert's jokes, so he just played along; it was a lot less hassle. Meanwhile, Francis hadn't realised the image that replaced the screen.

A woman even Francis didn't find attractive (if that is even possible).

"Gil!"

* * *

Meanwhile, two women sat with just eachother for company. The two were locked in an isolated room, away from anyone else. They were too dangerous to be near anybody else.

One of them was attached to the wall behind her, not able to move, while the other was allowed to walk around, smirking at the other.

"Guess what I got?"

The woman tied to the wall said nothing, but looked at the woman standing up. "You're kidding aren't you?"

This was because the woman had drawn out the keys to get themselves out of the room.

"Nope, as long as we're quiet, we can get out."

"You've been in here two weeks, while I've been here for hell knows how long!"

The woman smiled. "Well, hurry up, idiot. We've got to get going."

* * *

**Another fill-in chapter, the next one will be longer, I promise.**


	8. Day 2 (Friday)

**Quick Question: Would you like me to rewrite the first chapters in third person, or keep them as how they are? That will be a second project though.**

**There will be a lot of swearing in this chapter, sorry if you don't like it.**

**Pairings involved in the Chapter: GerIta/LuwdigxFeliciano.**

Paranoid about anyone seeing his scars on his shoulders, Arthur did the best he could not to expose his skin. His scars were already making him wince, as the sweating from the gym session were stinging them underneath.

Meanwhile, he watched Antonio Carriedo glancing from side to side, before doing the quickest change from his gym shirt to his polo shirt that the world has ever seen. Antonio had obviously seen Arthur looking at him, as he got up, walked over to him, and looked at him in the eye, their different shades of green eyes aligned.

"Use this." He simply said, passing Arthur a towel. Before he could reply, the brown haired boy simply said "I have the same problem all over my back, I know what happened to you." Before he walked off and started squealing like a girl at something.

Arthur was fascinated. First, Francis, the flirt, who was calm and close to the spirits out of school, and now Antonio, the craziest student in the year, who had the exact same problem as he did. The next question was, what about Gilbert?

As everyone else did, when the lunch bell rang out four times, symbolising it was an outdoor lunch session; Arthur got up and walked out of the changing rooms. But instead of going to whatever location he had planned (which was nowhere in particular), a light brown haired boy pinned him to the wall, his bright blue eyes almost staring into Arthur's soul. "Dyllan?"

Dyllan Kirkland didn't move an inch from where he had pinned his younger half-brother. The sixteen year old Welshman was the most recent of the Kirkland's (aside from the unknowing Arthur), to hear the news, and the only one who had the guts to tell the youngest of them. He was the closest out of him and his other brother to the blond, as the others, especially Blain, wanted nothing to do with him [1]. "Arthur, I need to talk to you. I know we're not close, but this is important."

Arthur raised a thick eyebrow at his Welsh brother, before loosening. He realised Dyllan didn't know how firm his grip was around his shoulders. "What?"

Dyllan sighed. _Did Arthur have any sense?_ His voice was rushed, while his brother's was just calm and neutral? Couldn't he tell how worried he was? "You won't believe me if I told you, especially with that tone."

"Then why collar m-" Arthur was abruptly stopped as a letter was shoved into his hands, while Dyllan quickly walked off.

~x~

"Kesese, Francis, guess what?"

"What?" Francis groaned. He wasn't in the best of moods, especially since Gilbert made him fall off a treadmill in the gym. His leg still hurt from where he had landed on it at an awkward angle.

"West's gay and he had a boyfriend!" Gilbert started. Personally, Francis wasn't surprised. Knowing enough gay people, he knew the 'symptom's' of a gay person, and Ludwig had hit a lot of them recently. "The best part is who it is!"

"Who is it then?" Francis still asked, irritated.

"Cheer up, Francey-pants! It's your cousin, Feli Vargas!"

"How do Ludwig and Feli even like eachother?! The two have nothing in common, not even one initial!"

"Kesese, that's the funniest part." Gilbert said, looking over to the two ten year olds. As Feliciano would do, he was on Ludwig's back, his eyes shut, doing his strange little laugh.

Lovino had decided this was the right time to walk in. "What the fuck?!"

Ludwig and Feliciano were too far from earshot to hear this, though Gilbert and Francis were snickering behind their hands. "What the fuck are you laughing at, bastards?" Lovino had gotten himself into a rage, and, if he had a swear box at this point, whoever got the money would be a millionaire, whether it was fifty pound notes or one pence coins.

"Your face, kesese. It's so funny!"

"And what's wrong with it?!"

"I didn't pull _that _bad a face when I saw it, and I'm in the same position as you."

Raging Lovino then decided to shove Gilbert into a chair.

"Shizer, that really hurt."

"Never mess with a raging Lovino Vargas. I got bit once." Francis said. "Anyway, I need to do some homework, so I'm going to the library."

"Ja, fine, though next time you'll see me, it's probably in a first aid room. I'm going to carry on pissing off Lovino."

"'Probably'?, Certainly is the better word to describe it."

"Kesese, you'll find out soon enough." Gilbert said, walking over to the foul mouthed Italian.

~x~

_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!_

Arthur's eyes were widened and red with crying reading the letter. He couldn't believe it, but it was there, in black and white…

He had sat himself in the library. None of the people who were loud and probably would laugh at him there, and most of them were just sat reading a book or at a computer for homework anyway. He had positioned himself as far away as he could from anyone else, so they couldn't see him.

_Alice Kirkland and Jeanne Bonnefoy have escaped from Prison together._

"Arthur?"

_Crap, just the person I need to see._

Francis was looking Arthur straight in the eye. However much he didn't like him, he knew something was up. "What's the matter?"

All Arthur did was shove the letter in front of the Frenchman. Francis picked it up and slowly read it, once, twice, three times.

"Where did you get this?"

"Dyllan."

Francis read the letter once over again, not sure how to take it. "It's OK. We're going to be fine."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better, aren't you?"

"Don't pretend you're shit scared, otherwise the bad luck will come to you. I've done it before, it works."

Arthur sighed. "Fine, but if anything happens, the blame is on you." He said, trying to smile. "I'm going to History; it starts in a few minutes."

"I've got History as well. We have History, Geography, Religious Education, English, Maths, Science, Citizenship, and near enough every class apart from P.E. together."

_Can't I get away from him at all?_

~x~

During History, which Arthur was positioned on his own in the corner, he half-focused on the lesson, the other half thinking all sorts of unnecessary things that someone his age shouldn't be thinking of. "Arthur, what is the answer to this question?"

"Ummm, sorry Miss, I…don't know."

The teacher, who was a woman of around forty years of age, gave Arthur a sympathetic look. She had heard what had happened, and knew he had a lot on his plate, so gave him a curt nod, before turning to the Bad Touch Trio, who were causing a riot on the other side of the class, Gilbert using his icepack (from annoying Lovino) as a weapon.

It was the last lesson of the week, so most people were either asleep on their desks, having excitable moments on no energy, or were watching the seconds tick by on the clock.

Half an hour left. Miss' status: Slightly Irritated.

Twenty-Five minutes. Miss' status: Getting Annoyed.

Twenty minutes. Miss' status: Bubbling with Anger.

Fifteen minutes. Miss' status: Getting ready to blow.

Ten minutes. Miss now had had enough.

Five Minutes. The status known as "Oh, fuck, we're all dead.".

"ALRIGHT! STAND BEHIND YOUR SEATS AND DON'T MOVE!"

But nobody listened, and most of the class were on the other side of the room from where they had been instructed. One student even pulled his shirt off and threw it right behind the teacher, who luckily didn't notice.

"Arthur, do you want to come around to my place tomorrow?~"

Arthur looked up to see Francis standing opposite him, his blue eyes looking into his own forest green one's. "Who's going to be there?"

"Well, moi, Gil, Toni, Ludwig, Matthieu, the Vargas brothers, and you, if you come along."

"Well, I guess so; I have nothing better to do."

"Don't act like that, it'll be fun!"

"You've never seen me have fun."

"Well, I somehow heard of a time you got given coff-"

"Shut up, git!"

Francis laughed his trademark French laugh, which annoyed Arthur. It was so annoying! "So, it's a yes, oui?"

"I guess so." Arthur groaned. "Though if something happens, your legs will literally be what they are now."

"And that is?"

"Frogs legs."

Francis laughed again, though this time, he was drowned out by the shouting people around the class, as it had been dismissed. "I've got to go and do something now. Au revoir!"

"Bye, frog."


	9. Day 3 (Saturday)

**Ugh, this was so hard to write. I also had a migraine and got sent home from school Tuesday and had the rest of the week off, so I haven't been 100%, so sorry for the badness. Due to things going on, I may not be able to update once a week, but I will try.**

**Pairings in this Chapter: PruCan and GerIta.**

Matthew and Arthur stood outside the flat's door. Something was going on on the other side of the door, but neither of them could tell what. The two of them had knocked, but neither of them thought they had been heard. Trying again, they seemed to get a response. It was off Ludwig. "Ja, come in." he said sighing. The two of them wondered why, but it wasn't long before they found out.

First, Lovino and Gilbert were fighting again, the latter yelping in pain as the Italian strangely bit his hand, and crimson blood was slowly coming out. The rest of the people were putting bets on who would win, and all were for the Southern Italian.

Second, the music being played was so loud that it was almost deafening.

The flat was made up of a whole floor, so it was almost a one-floored house how spread out it was. Except, it was completely wrecked, and a grumbling Ludwig was trying, and failing, to clean up.

"Hey, birdie!" Matthew was pinned to a wall by Gilbert, and despite Matthew's efforts, he couldn't move.

"Ah! H-hello, Gil."

The two were yet another group in the Geography project, as were Antonio and Lovino. A slightly easier project was set for Ludwig and Feliciano's year, and the two of them were grouped together.

"Is this actually for the project or did you just call me over for no reason, bastard?!"

"Is both an answer, Lovi?"

"No, tomato bastard!"

"Fine, then the second one~"

"Dammit! Why do I want to stay the whole day _here_?!"

"Don't be like that~"

Both Lovino and Antonio ended up carrying on the conversation for a while, before someone decided to turn up the sound up twice as loud, drowning them out. "YOU'LL PISS THE NEIGHBOURS OFF! TURN IT DOWN!"

"THEY'RE OUT FOR THE DAY, SO STOP BEING A SPOIL SPORT!"

"Gits, turn it down." Arthur muttered, before putting his hand on the door handle to leave. As he did so, the music was turned down automatically to a decent volume that everyone could hear eachother without shouting. "Finally."

"Hey, who wants to play a game?" Gilbert said, trying to be peacemaker for once.

"Someone who needs to grow up?"

"Depends if there is a prize."

"No prizes. I have less money than you."

"What the fuck do you want?!"

"Loviiiiii~ Nonno told you to stop swearing."

"I will when everyone stops pissing me off, bastardo, and guess what?"

"What?"

"That's never."

"I got an idea! Everyone has to swap secrets!" Gil announced.

"No way in hell."

"Fuck no."

"Just do it, he'll shut up then." Ludwig muttered.

Eventually, eight sheets of paper were put face down on the floor. Most were left with blank, and one was covered in cussing (wonder who wrote that one?).

Before anything else could carry on, there was more chaos and screaming, one of the screamers being Feliciano Vargas, since the sofa had just fallen on him.

Meanwhile, as all the chaos went on, Arthur saw Gilbert dragging Matthew off in the corner of his eye. _Suspicious?_

_Urgh, I've got a headache, _Arthur thought, rubbing his head and discreetly trying to leave. At first, he thought he was successful, until he saw a certain Frenchman following him.

"What's the matter?"

"Is that what you're like every day?!"

"Oui, though it doesn't take long to get used to." Francis said, noting that Arthur was rubbing his temple. "I've had that every day for six or sept years. You probably just have sensitive hearing."

"I guess I do."

"Why don't we try at your maison tomorrow? It's probably quieter."

"I live with Alfred F. Jones." Arthur said.

"You're probably used to it."

"Stop it with the morals, frog!"

"I wasn't-"

"Fine, if you want to come around tomorrow, you do that. I don't care."

"Arthur, remember what the letter said."

The Brit stopped dead in his tracks.

"_Both Alice Britannia and Jeanne Bonnefoy have escaped prison together. _If our mere's can work together, so can we, at least on something as simple as not arguing."

Arthur sighed heavily. "Fine."

"So, see you tomorrow?"

"Fine frog, see you tomorrow."

**And again, sorry for the short crappy chapter. I've been really ill, so I am using that as an excuse. Thanks for reading.**


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